Marshmallows
by Parachutingkitten
Summary: A little angsty fluff with Pixal and Cryptor in the Samurai X cave while her identity is still a secret. Loosely based in the situation set up in my MASX story (but I haven't even written that far yet so don't fret too much about context). Just a cute little Christmas one shot. I love these robo-siblings so friggin much.


You wouldn't know it from the inside. It felt stagnant and dry and slightly chilled like every other day of the year, but outside it was snowing. The ground was covered in white powder, and the temperature was well below freezing. Of course, none of that matters to the Samurai X cave. Christmas doesn't really mean much out in the middle of nowhere.

The microwave buzzed prompting me to open it. I pulled out the mug, warm enough for my purposes. I began scooping a few larger sized piles of chocolate mix into my cup as a figure entered the kitchen.

"You want one?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Just looking for some company."

"I didn't really think you were one for company."

He sat down in front of me at the bar. "Well, 'tis the season and all that."

I took a sip of my hot chocolate. It wasn't bad for what it was. "So, what are we doing tonight?"

Cryptor sat in silence for a moment before sliding a gift across the counter to me. It was a small little purple box with a red bow on top.

"I got you this."

I looked up at him, a bit surprised. I slowly placed down my mug and took the box into my hands. I carefully untied the bow, and lifted the lid to find two turquoise crystals sitting inside.

"Earrings. To help you with your whole teal theme you're working on."

I pulled one out of the box to find the stud lined with a elegant gold backing.

"They're beautiful. Thanks. That's really sweet of you." I removed the backing and fitted the first one into my ear. "What do you think?" I asked, grabbing the second one from the box.

"I'm just realizing that no one's going to see them under the mask."

I laughed, fitting the second one into my ear. "That's alright. It'll get me in the zone, you know?"

"Yeah, let's go with that," he chuckled.

I turned to look at my reflection in the microwave door. I pulled the hair from my face, admiring them for a moment. The fact that he even remembered what today was surprised me.

"I feel bad," I turned back to him. "I didn't get you anything."

"Don't worry about it," He rolled his eyes. "Christmas is just an excuse to pretend to care about people so you can feel like kind of a good person. It's not exactly my favorite holiday or anything."

"Then why'd you get me something to begin with?" I asked, picking up my mug again.

His eyes strayed from mine as he thought for a moment. His expression became increasingly concerned as he began to speak. "The reason I did it…" He sighed. "I did it for Zane." He looked back up at me.

I felt a bit of shame run across my face. Zane. What was he doing tonight?

"I know you miss him, and I know he'd always get you some cheesy cute present- in fact, he's such a dork, I'd bet you that he even bought a gift for you this year anyway and put it under the tree-"

I laughed at the thought of him still thinking about me, a few tears slipping past my eyes.

"Anyway. The point is, I knew you'd probably miss that, and… I don't like seeing you sad."

I couldn't bring myself to look at him with so many tears gathering in my eyes. I looked down into my mug at the chocolate dust swirling around the top.

"You okay?"

"I don't even really like hot chocolate," I chuckled. "It's just, me and Zane used to drink it together on days like this. Of course, he would make it up all fancy and add all these different spices, and here I am with a microwave and a dust mix! We don't even have any marshmallows!"

"Hey, hey. Calm down." Cryptor stood as I cleared the tears from my cheeks. I felt one of his hands on my shoulder, and the other hold my arm. "Do you want marshmallows?"

"No, no." I placed the mug down, and spun away from it. "It's just… stupid. It's okay."

His eyes remained fixed on me a moment more. "... I'm getting you marshmallows."

"No, Cryptor," I turned to stop him. "Really, it's okay."

"My sister wants some marshmallows for her hot chocolate and by gosh, she's going to get some!"

I laughed as he sat down, putting on his shoes. "No, I mean it." I kneeled down next to him, grabbing his arm. "I'm okay. I'd rather spend christmas with my brother than wallow in my lack of marshmallows."

He relaxed a bit, smiling. "Okay. But we're looking up a half decent hot chocolate recipe, and we're making some from scratch."

"Deal, but only if we make it a tradition of making terrible marshmallow-less hot chocolate every year."

"Okay," Cryptor rolled his eyes, standing up. "First of all, I'm not doing this 'Christmas' thing again, okay?

I laughed, and stood with him as we entered the kitchen.

"Second of all, what makes you so sure it's going to be terrible?"

"Cryptor-"

"Everyone knows I'm a master chef!"

"Cryptor," I placed a hand on his shoulder, capturing his attention. "...thanks."

"Any time."


End file.
